Business News

Pinko launches hybrid shop concept

Italian woman's apparel brand Pinko has just redesigned its Corso Venezia boutique according to a new formula that integrates traditional shopping and e-commerce. The hybrid shop concept in Milan presents a sort of catwalk showing outfits of the latest collections worn by mannequins as well as a set of digital screens placed on the store's walls through which customers can buy either single items or entire looks from the collection via e-commerce.

The digital screens expand the space of the boutique, making it possible – through images and renderings – to explore the whole collection and discover variations and items to mix and match that are not necessarily at the shop but available in the main warehouse and so quickly procurable.

“The idea is not unlike hybrid cars,” explains Pietro Negri, Pinko’s founder and president. “Ten years ago no one would have bet on hybrid cars but today they’re a fact to reckon with. And as with hybrid cars, where the energy of motion recharges the electric motor, providing real fuel savings with a positive impact on the environment, so the hybrid shop enriches the shopping experience with unusual content, making it possible to frequently rotate the product that gratifies and attracts the final customer without weighing on the overall budget of each store. The integration between real and virtual is the key: and in our opinion it is on this combination that retail’s future will be staked”.

This is Pinko’s first brick and mortar store and there is a possibility of opening additional boutiques in other international cities in the future. "E-commerce is an important additional option for both companies and retailers today," continues Negri who explains that Pinko's revenues from e-commerce are comparable to sales registered by an own shop. “The idea that we can provide an extra tool in terms of shopping experience and revenues is an element that can help us growing further in Italy and abroad." Pinko expects to close 2013 with a €170 million turnover, similar to what it registered in 2012. 30% of the company's turnover comes from export.